Kempe scores 2 late goals, lifts Kings past Penguins to spoil Jagr night

PITTSBURGH -- Adrian Kempe scored twice late in the third period, rallying the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins and spoiling the retirement of Jaromir Jagr’s No. 68 at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.

Kempe tied it 1-1 at 13:49 with a one-timer from the point off a pass from Drew Doughty. He then scored short-handed on a 2-on-1 from the right face-off circle for a 2-1 lead at 16:50, his 19th goal of the season and 300th point in the NHL. 

“We stuck with it. We were patient,” Kempe said. “Just fought for each other out there. Get the two goals at the end. Pretty even game, but we played solid again. We got the two deserving points that maybe we didn't get a couple weeks ago.” 

Cam Talbot made 29 saves for the Kings (27-16-10), who have won three in a row and five of six including a 5-4 overtime win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Sidney Crosby scored, and Tristan Jarry made 31 saves for the Penguins (24-21-7), who have lost four of five. 

“I think we spent more time in our end zone than we would like,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “Having said that, for most of it I thought we defended pretty hard. We would have liked to have controlled territory a little more. I think that's an important aspect of playing with a lead, playing on your toes, playing on top of teams. I thought we could have done a better job of that as a group." 

Crosby put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 five seconds into a power play at 18:43 of the first period, taking a pass from Erik Karlsson for a one-timer from atop the right circle. It was his 31st goal this season and third in his past two games. 

"It's tough to win in this league when you score one goal,” Karlsson said. “’Jars’ played great for us again and gave us a chance. ... We would have liked to put a few more pucks in the net, but that wasn't the case today. Like I said, I think in the third we didn't really have a response to their push, when they scored their equalizer there, it kind of throws us back a little bit."

Pittsburgh finished 1-for-5 on the power play, failing to score on its final three following Crosby’s goal. 

"Their power play is pretty good too with the players that they have,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “We were just in lanes. We made it hard for them to get an easy shot to the net. Credit the two forwards, really, at the top for being in lanes, being willing to block them.”  

Each team took to its bench for a pregame ceremony celebrating Jagr, lasting about 40 minutes.   

Surrounded by former teammates, coaches and management, Jagr became the third Penguins player to have his number retired, joining Mario Lemieux (66) and Michel Briere (21). He then took pregame warmups with Pittsburgh before watching the game from a suite. 

“Really special anytime you can be a part of a jersey retirement, but especially Jaromir, he’s a legend in the game,” Crosby said. “I said yesterday then after experiencing it today, it’s something we all feel pretty honored to be a part of it.” 

In 11 seasons with the Penguins from 1990-2001, Jagr won the Stanley Cup twice (1991, 1992) and had the fourth most points (1,079; 439 goals, 640 assists) in their history, trailing Lemieux (1,723), Crosby (1,557) and Evgeni Malkin (1,270). 

“You know there's going to be the buzz,” Talbot said. “Then they get that first one and it's Sid. The crowd goes crazy and they show [Jagr] up in the press box and stuff like that, you know the fans are going to be into it right away. I thought we did a good job of silencing them after that. We didn't give them a whole lot to cheer for.” 

NOTES: Talbot got his first win since Dec. 23, ending an 0-7-3 skid. … Karlsson (185 goals, 614 assists) is one point from 800 in the NHL. … Kempe (525 games) is the 10th-fastest player to reach 300 career points with the Kings. Among active players, only Anze Kopitar got there faster (333). ... Penguins forward Jansen Harkins had two shots on goal and two hits in 5:11 of ice time after missing the previous two games with a concussion. ... Forward Matthew Phillips had one shot on goal and one hit in 11:00 during his Pittsburgh debut after being claimed off waivers from the Washington Capitals on Friday.